Over the course of the week we will be examining events in Japan through the lens of the historical thinking concept continuity and change. You can read more about this concept at the historical thinking website. Rather than seeing history as a list of events that came one after another, we will try to understand Japanese history as a complex set of continuities and changes. If you say nothing happened in Japan in 1789 then you are thinking about history as a series of events rather than trying to understand both the changes and continuities that were happening over the course of the 300 year period we are studying.
Providing Context
To help us engage this concept of continuity and change, we will begin with a presentation on a crucial turning point in Japanese history; namely, the arrival of Commodore Perry and his American naval fleet who demanded that Japan open its doors to trade. In responding to Perry's demands, the leaders of Japan had to choose a new course for the country which involved modernizing Japan as quickly as possible so they could become a military and economic power equal to Western colonial powers. To examine this crucial turning point we will watch parts of the documentary The Return of the Barbarians accompanied by a lecture. While viewing this presentation you are asked to take notes on key questions which will help you understand the forces that drove the tremendous changes that took place in Japan at this time.
Applying your knowledge
After learning more about the historical thinking concept continuity and change and the criteria used to make decision around what elements in society stayed the same and what changed, you will be given a series of artifacts and pictures from various periods in Japanese history. Using your background knowledge about the different historical periods we have studied, you are asked to sort these pictures in chronological order putting the pictures in the order they happened historically. In order to decide which pictures happened longest ago and which ones happened most recently, consider the forces that were at work during each period we have studied including characteristics of:
- The Warring States Period: 1500-1600 (250 Daimyo at constant war)
- The Edo Period of Isolation: 1633-1864 (Japan cut-off from the rest of the world)
- The Meiji Restoration 1867-1900's (The Emperor becomes the head of state in place of the Tokugawa Shogunate)
As a class brainstorm changes and the nature of life during each of these periods (i.e., during the Warring States Period many Japanese were converted to Christianity; however, during the Edo period of isolation Christianity was banned and anyone practicing Christianity was executed).
